“I am very strong”: Ortega government shows Bishop Monsignor Alvarez sentenced to 26 years in prison | International

After more than a month and a half without news of Monsignor Rolando Alvarez, Daniel Ortega’s government released some pictures of the Nicaraguan bishop this weekend. The priest, who was accused of “treason against the motherland” and sentenced to more than 26 years in prison, appeared in some photos and videos broadcast by the official media, in which he was seen eating in a prison cell with his two brothers, and finally they could. to meet him. “Thank God, [estoy] “Good, with a lot of inner strength, with a lot of peace in the Lord and the Blessed Virgin,” the priest answered a journalist. Channel 4 In La Modelo prison.

The reappearance of the Matagalpa bishop, who has emerged as one of the most critical voices of Daniel Ortega’s government, comes after human rights organizations and opposition groups demanded evidence of the life of the priest, who has not been seen publicly since February. 10, the day he was charged with “conspiracy to undermine national integrity” and “spreading false news”.

“We talked, we ate very well here, with food given to us by our friends from the prison system,” says Monsignor Alvarez in front of the official channel’s camera. In the pictures, he appears calm, dressed in a blue prison uniform, smiling and good-humoredly responding to a reporter. In one of his questions, they ask him to reaffirm that he received “the dignified treatment every human being deserves.” “Yes, I thank the competent authorities and the prison system,” he says simply. The journalist replied that it was nice to see him well. “Does it look good on me? Is it healthy? My face, how do they see it?” The priest laughs at the question. He then thanks Kanni for the visit of his brothers.

Images of Monsignor Álvarez were cheered by the Nicaraguan opposition, which in recent days has intensified its campaign to demand proof of priestly vocation from the government. “It makes me happy to see Monsignor Alvarez, strong and his face lit up with dignity and courage. The proof of life that we have been asking for so much. He was kidnapped, but his voice is stronger than ever. I trust in God that we will soon see him out of prison,” said the former presidential candidate. Felix Maradiaga, an exiled political prisoner, wrote on his Twitter account on Saturday.

“Those of us who have known the prisons of the dictatorship know that Bishop Alvarez’s peaceful smile is due to his courage and faith in God,” he added this Sunday after the priest’s statements were released.

Alvarez, 56, was sentenced on February 10 in an express trial without bail after refusing to board a plane with 222 political prisoners who were deported and later stripped of their nationality. “Let them go free and I will pay their punishment,” said the bishop, who was under house arrest until then. Refusal to comply with the regime’s desire to expel critical voices put the priest in the crosshairs of justice, which is administered by operators linked to the Ortega government. The President himself called him arrogant, deranged and energetic.

In addition to the 26 years and 4 months in prison, they removed him from his home country of Nicaragua, along with other exiles and dozens of other critics. But for many, the conviction reaffirmed the priest as a symbol of dissent in Nicaragua, which has the Catholic Church as one of its main strongholds.

Pope Francis himself recently railed against the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo in Nicaragua, which he described as a “brutal dictatorship” with overtones of “communist or Hitlerian dictatorship.” “There is a bishop in prison, a very serious man, very capable. He wanted to give his testimony and did not accept exile,” the Pope said in a statement to the portal. Infobay.

For his part, Silvio Paes, the former vice-bishop of Managua, now in exile in the United States, used this Sunday in his Miami parish to support his colleague. “He gave us so much joy and we should all be happy to see him and know that he is alive,” the priest said. Posted a mass video 100% message. “The dictatorship has shown that it is afraid, that it is vulnerable, that it is afraid. That’s why they showed it. This is the result of the liberation of the Church and the international effort to condemn this crime and demand his freedom”, he demanded his freedom “because he is innocent”.

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